“JT or Talon is fine, Mrs. Brewer. I know the multiple names are confusing.” He flashed Keeley’s mom a grin and it seemed to charm her.
She closed the door behind them, making Keeley tense. What if she started showing baby pictures or telling embarrassing stories?
“Come into the living room,” her mom said. “Are you hungry? I just whipped up some cookies. Peanut butter with white chocolate chips. Keeley’s favorite.”
“They smell amazing,” Talon told her.
“Would you like some milk with them? We have ice cream, too. Vanilla, chocolate, rocky road —”
“Mom, we have to go,” Keeley interrupted. She was going to offer the whole fridge if they didn’t leave soon. Quickly, she steered Talon out of the house and into the driveway.
“She seems nice,” Talon commented.
“She is. But she would have stuffed you with food till you couldn’t move.” She climbed into his truck. “So where are we going?” Curiosity was killing her.
“Remember I told you about geocaching with my gramps? Well, we’re going to the state park to geocache.”
“I thought you didn’t do it anymore.” He hadn’t gone since his grandpa died four years ago.
“I haven’t.” He tossed her a grin. “Guess I needed the right partner.”
Butterflies erupted in her stomach. Geocaching was special to him and yet he was taking her. It was hard to wrap her head around. “How does this work?”
“Think of it as an outdoor treasure hunt. You use a GPS system to find specific coordinates. At each location is a container. If you find it, you get to keep whatever’s inside.”
“But how are we going to find anything in the dark?”
He explained that they would use flashlights to find small reflectors. Each reflector would point in the direction of the next reflector. All they had to do was follow the trail and they would find the container.
When they got to the park, she could barely see the faint outline of trees and brush. She’d visited once for a school field trip, so she remembered it was a heavily forested area with hiking trails and streams running throughout. Talon reached in the backseat to grab flashlights and handed one to her.
“Let’s make this a little more interesting,” he said as they walked toward a large wooded area. He directed her to a dirt trail that twisted out of sight. “A game of truth or dare. The first person to spot a marker gets to ask the question.”
He was certainly full of surprises. “Okay. Any limits?”
“Nope. If you’ve been dying to see what I have going on under this shirt, now’s the time,” he teased.
“Plan on losing?” she taunted.
“I’ve learned not to underestimate you.”
She patted his arm. “Smart boy.”
It took several minutes before she spotted a small orange reflector. It was attached to an old, gnarled tree that looked like it’d been through a few storms. The marker pointed them to the right, paralleling a small stream.
She shot him a grin. “Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” he answered, surprising her. She would have pegged him as a “dare” type of guy.
“What’s the deal with your names?” The question had been bothering her.
“There are four James Talons in my family. It gets confusing, so we have nicknames. My great-grandfather was James, my grandfather went by Junior and my father goes by Jimmy. The first time Gramps held me, he called me Talon. It stuck.”
“Then why does everyone call you JT?”
“I took Gramps’s death really hard. I hated being reminded of him. So when we moved here, I decided to go by something new.” He pulled a branch away from their path and let her go first. “Figured it could be a fresh start. I like that you call me Talon, though. It feels … right.” His gaze met hers and the impact felt like a kick to the chest.
She was happy he wanted her to call him Talon, but she wondered if the names were his way of differentiating between his true self and the football persona. In many ways, she and Talon mirrored each other. They both had two different selves, but she was trying to let her true self out. Was Talon doing the same? Or was he trying to hide it?
They continued on, following the stream. Large redwood trees lined the pathway. They were so tall, they hovered over Keeley and Talon, blocking out the light of the moon. It felt like they were in their own secret world.
Talon pointed his flashlight to a thick bush with white flowers. An orange reflector was wedged between the roots. They followed the arrow and turned north toward the rocky hills. She noticed large boulders and rocks, some of them precariously stacked on top of each other. “Are you sure this is safe?”
He dropped an arm around her shoulders and drew her close. “I’ll protect you,” he promised with a sly smile.
“Is this your plan? Get me scared so you can cozy up?” she asked suspiciously even as she wound her arm around his waist.
“It’s working, isn’t it?” he replied smugly, tightening his grip on her. “And since I found the marker, it’s my turn. Truth or dare, Keeley?”
“Truth.” She wasn’t brave enough for a dare.
“How come you’re different on the phone? It’s like when we first met, you weren’t the same girl.”
Keeley didn’t want to tell him. What if he felt different after learning the truth? She pulled away. “I — uh … well, I guess I feel more comfortable texting.” She picked up the pace and walked ahead so she couldn’t see his response.
“So you’re like that with everyone?” He sounded disappointed.
“It’s different with you. I still can’t believe some of the stuff I said. I just ... I don’t know. At first, you were so cocky, and you made me so mad that I didn’t care what you thought. I just said whatever came to mind.”
“I guess I was kind of a jerk.” He ran to catch up to her. Then pulled her close again and leaned down to place a kiss on her temple. His mouth was so close that she could smell the distinct scent of sugar and marshmallow on his breath. All she had to do was lift her head a little and they would be kissing. She wet her lips and slowly —
“Look! There’s another marker.” He dropped his arm and hurried to the rock formation in front of them. “Come on,” he called out, motioning for her to hurry.
He seemed more excited about finding this cache than kissing her. They trekked up another hill that gave way to a meadow dotted with moonlit flowers. They continued till Talon spotted the fourth marker off to their right. It was at the entrance of a large cave.
“Oh, no,” she protested when she realized where the arrow was pointing. “I am not going in there. No way. No how. There could be mountain lions in that thing.”
“There are no mountain lions in this area,” he said, trying to mollify her.
“That anyone knows of!” She eyed the dark cave with trepidation. What else lived in caves? Bears? Cougars?
“Come on, I dare you.”
“I haven’t picked truth or dare yet!”